Black Excellence: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Purpose, a new play now on Broadway, has all the trappings of the classic family drama: A powerful and aging patriarch, wayward sons, a strategizing wife and a watchful outsider. It could be about monarchs.
Instead, the latest work from Tony-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins trains its lens on a family with deep roots in the American civil rights movement grappling with the impact of that very history on them and on society at large.
Black Excellence: Franchesca Leigh Ramsey
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franchesca_Ramsey
Franchesca Leigh Ramsey (born November 29, 1983), also known as Chescaleigh, is an American comedian, activist, television and YouTube personality, and actress, who has appeared on MTV and MSNBC.[1][2][3][4][5] She gained media fame quickly after her YouTube commentary on racial issues went viral, and she built a career as a writer, producer, and performer based on her unintended activism, being thrust into a role as an advisor or coach on social issues.[6][7]
Black Excellence: Todd Boyd
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Boyd
Todd Boyd, aka “Notorious Ph.D.“,[1] is the Katherine and Frank Price Endowed Chair for the Study of Race & Popular Culture and Professor of Cinema and Media Studies in the USC School of Cinematic Arts.[2] Boyd is a media commentator, author, producer, consultant and scholar. He is considered an expert on American popular culture and is known for his pioneering work on cinema, media, hip hop culture, fashion, art and sports.[3] Boyd received his PhD in Communication Studies from the University of Iowa in 1991 and began his professorial career at USC in the fall of 1992.
Black Excellence: Ruby Maddox
Ruby Maddox passed away on April 17, 2025.
https://www.leadersofthefreeworld.org/about-the-directors.html
Ruby Maddox has spent more than 15 years in the field of higher education and experiential learning. Her most recent position was as the study abroad advisor and internship coordinator, for the McCulloch Center Global initiatives; a 2015 Paul Simon Awardee for excellence in international education. Ruby received her B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, majoring in Public Policy and Urban Communities, and her M.S. from Bay Path University in Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy. Ruby is the co-founder of Gardening the Community, a Black-led food security and environmental justice organization in Springfield, MA and owner of Direct Your Purpose, a practice that helps individuals and organizations move from aspiration to action toward their goals.
Black Excellence: Ebenezer Odeniyi
Born and raised in England with Nigerian roots, I’ve been passionate about cooking since the age of 12. In March 2019, my journey took a transformative turn when I became vegan after losing my aunt to cancer. Having also lost both of my parents to the disease, I’ve committed to living a healthier, plant- based lifestyle—and inspiring others to do the same.
On my platform, I share a mix of everyday recipes and vibrant dishes inspired by flavours from around the world, including my Nigerian heritage and Caribbean influences. My goal is to show that cooking can be fun, flavourful, and accessible for everyone.
Black Excellence: Ryan Coogler
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Coogler
Ryan Kyle Coogler (born May 23, 1986)[1] is an American filmmaker. He is a recipient of ten NAACP Image Awards [2][3][4][5] and four Black Reel Awards, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a Grammy Award.
Black Excellence: John Kani
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/17/nx-s1-5318738/john-kani-athol-fugard-black-panther-south-africa
Actor, playwright and activist John Kani is a legend in South Africa. He was arrested, beaten and almost left for dead because of his work developing and starring in plays that were often searing indictments of apartheid. But he didn’t let up.
“When you grow up in a war torn or an oppressive regime and you are at the receiving end of that injustice, born in you, inside, is an unbroken commitment to the liberation of your people,” Kani said.
Kani is perhaps best known in the United States for voicing Rafiki in two Lion King movies and playing King T’Chaka in Black Panther and Captain America: Civil War.
Black Excellence: Kamaar Taliaferro
https://www.iberkshires.com/story/67385/Pittsfield-Man-To-Receive-Black-Excellence-award-.html
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Kamaar Taliaferro of Pittsfield will recognized with the 2022 Black Excellence award as part of the Black Excellence on the Hill event.
This awards event, held annually by the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus (MBLLC), commemorates Black community leaders. The MBLLC seeks to highlight the heritage and work of those belonging to the Black diaspora through a virtual Black Excellence on the Hill celebration. L
Taliaferro was nominated by state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier.
Kamaar Taliaferro, also known as the Grumpy Gardener, who works with local gardeners and elementary students in Pittsfield, will spend his $759 mini-grant distributing seedlings to gardeners, planting potatoes in community and educational gardens and engaging youth in the hands-on process. “I am extremely grateful to everyone at UMass who envisioned this microgrant program,” Taliaferro said.
Black Excellence: Kaliya Lincoln
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaliya_Lincoln
Kaliya Lincoln (born April 23, 2006) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2023 Pan American Games champion on floor exercise and in the team event, and 2021 Junior Pan American champion on vault and floor.